Arthur Joseph Singleton Shaw was born the son of George Henry Shaw (1842-1922), a builder, in Howden, Yorkshire, England on 29 September 1871. He was articled to William Lister Newcombe (1847-1929) from 1887 to 1892 and remained with him as his assistant for a further year. He then worked as an assistant to Edward Salomons (1827-?-1906) and Alfred Steinthal (1859-1928) of Salomons & Steinthal in Manchester in 1893-94; Thomas Taylor (c,1858-1943) in Oldham, Lancashire from 1894 to 1897. Shaw qualified as an architect in 1897 and was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA) later that year. Between 1900 and 1914 he was in partnership with Thomas Hubert Hardinge Vowles (1872-1946) in Burnley, Lancashire. Vowles and Shaw were also partners in the architectural practice Sproat, Shaw, Vowles & Clayton which submitted an entry in a competition to design Lambeth Municipal Buildings in 1905. It may not have been a formal partnership and was possibly formed specifically for this competition. It may not have designed anything else. Their entry is illustrated in British Competitions in Architecture volume 1, no. 1, January 1905 (pp. 38, 39). Shaw died in Howden, Yorkshire on 9 May 1943
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 2: L-Z. London; New York: British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects/Continuum, 2001